


No Strings Attached

by Tammaiya



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-06
Updated: 2004-06-06
Packaged: 2018-08-09 13:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7803385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammaiya/pseuds/Tammaiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reets has a prosaic view on the life of a Seamstress, but Chastity is different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Strings Attached

Reets had been a seamstress ever since she left home as a young girl, but what they forgot to tell you when you signed up was that people were cruel. When someone bought a lady of negotiable affection, they were doing it for one of three reasons: they couldn't get anyone else who'd take them; they wanted meaningless sex, no strings attached; or… they wanted someone they could push around. Someone who'd do the things a wife or girlfriend wouldn't, because they needed the money and that meant putting up with the abuse.  
  
Often it was all three.  
  
You looked out for each other, in the guild, because if you didn't, who would? You didn't comment when your best friend came back with bruises all over them, crying when someone touched them and trying to pretend that it didn't hurt. You didn't comment, but sometimes it was so hard not to, so hard to act like there was nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. The really sad thing was that there wasn't, when you thought about it. It was common for the girls to come back looking like they'd been fighting in the Mended Drum.  
  
Reets didn't mind so much when it was her who'd taken the beating; she was used to it. They all were. You learned to ignore the pain, because if you didn't, you couldn't keep going. And that wasn't an option.  
  
When it was Chastity, though… funny, vivacious, sarcastic Chastity, with her clever mouth and her pretty eyes, Reets could feel her blood run cold. People who could harm a girl like Chastity were monsters, but there was no justice for a common prostitute. They got paid; it was as good as consent, and Ankh Morpork didn't care that sometimes there wasn't a choice. It didn't matter if sometimes they weren't paid; it wasn't rape if it was a seamstress, after all.  
  
Maybe it would have surprised people who didn't know what the lifestyle was like to learn that most seamstresses hated sex. It was hard not to, at times, when your partner never cared about how you felt. You couldn't have a boyfriend, because most men were unsurprisingly under-whelmed at the idea of sharing their girl with anyone who could pay. You learned to find alternatives, though. When you had done all the bizarre sexual acts required of the job, gender ceased to be an obstacle. Women even became more appealing, in a way-- softer, prettier, gentler. It was easier to worship a form that has never abused you.  
  
It was easier to trust girls, too, especially those who knew what it was like, which was why many of the girls at the guild sometimes slipped into each others beds in the velvety darkness of the night. Mrs Palm was wilfully blind to it; she knew what it was like to be in that position. In a world where sex was money and abuse was common, you needed to know that somewhere there was someone you could count on to make you feel good, no strings attached.  
  
Reets loved the way Chastity smelled, loved her soft skin and her silky scented hair and the delicate curves of her body. She also loved Chastity's clever mouth, which was clever in more ways than one. She had an oral fixation, she joked, and she loved to put things in her mouth as a child. Reets thought that this was one of the reasons Chastity made a good seamstress, but that was a cynical thought and one that made her angry, deep inside, that Chastity had to waste her talents on people who didn't deserve them.  
  
Chastity slipped into Reets's bed more often than not, in the evenings, her lithe curvy body flowing perfectly against Reets's own. She was so warm and soft, wrapping herself and insinuating herself around Reets' like a beautiful sensual python, sucking gently at her lover's neck as Reets pulled her close, held her as tightly as she could as if to pull her inside. Chastity loves the way Reets holds her, giggles and licks a trail down her chest just to hear her breathy gasps and feel her squirm, and Reets thinks that Chastity really does have a very clever mouth.  
  
Chastity kissed Reets gently and then possessively, and Reets wrapped her long legs around the other girl's waist. Chastity pressed against her, harder, and Reets bucked up in response, tugging lightly on the fine golden hair falling around her, tickling her and sometimes getting in her mouth. Chastity wouldn't know how to be chaste if she took lessons, but as a virtue it's over-rated, and Reets prefers her the way she is. She doesn't understand why men want women who are pure and servile; Chastity is neither, and Reets wonders if someone should tell men what they're missing out on. Reets hates men, though, and thinks they deserve what they get.  
  
These snatched moments in a bed together, a cocoon of warmth and safety, love and sex, make it all bearable. Reets thinks maybe she loves Chastity, which should be a problem, but it's not. They both live the same life.  
  
It's love and sex with no strings attached.


End file.
